Right, here's something I got up to while cleaning the bat room - which is still a mess... But at least I got some pics done! Just wanted to show the slight differences in the shoulders and bindings of different companies. Remember that there's always gonna be some variation, and batmakers will change the ways they do things from time to time. Also, this is only from what I've observed, so could be different for what other people have found.

FC Sondhi

Traits:

Curved shoulders

Thick binding

Stamps on the knob of the handle

Number of inserts can vary, even within the same model and grade.

Comments: They don't tend to compete with SS in terms of size, but seem to be the most consistent I've seen to date of the Indian manufacturers. Binding goes quite low - good thing in my books.

Millichamp & Hall Sareen Sports

Traits:

Squared shoulders, with a slight rounding at the topThinner bindingRubber inserts

Comments:The Puma I'm not too sure of the origins, initially I thought SS as the shape is similar, but the shoulders don't seem to match, but the twine does. The shape isn't far off the Sierra, so perhaps it's SG. Handles tend to be very flexible.

Gray Nicolls

Traits:

Rounded shoulders with a slight squaring

Tend to have 3 inserts, with the middle one being red. (GN500 is the exception)

The outer 2 inserts are cork and the middle is rubber

Thinner binding

[li]

Comments:Just from personal experience, GN are possibly the most underwhelming off the shelf bats out of the 4 big brands, bar the Classic range. (In terms of response and feel) I'm sure there are some that are very good out there, but just from the ones I've seen. I have an old Predator 5 Star which is excellent, wish they made all their bats like that! Go back to making thicker handles and less edge and more middle!

Gunn & Moore

Traits:

Curved shoulders

CNC markings

Older ones have binding where there are black dots throughout the binding. Not sure if caused by the glue or binding, but the newer models (Six6 and Mana) don't seem to have this.

Thicker binding

Comments: Most consistent of all the big off the shelf brands in terms of quality of finish, pressing and shaping. Pic of handle knob and binding is comparison between a B3 and the GM Argon.

B3

Traits:

Curved shoulders

Thicker binding

Same dotted trait as the older GM

CNC markings, but not quite as pronounced

Comments: Extremely similar to GM, except the shoulders feel a touch more blended/smoothed.

Salix

Traits:

Curved shoulders, slightly different to the previous ones in that they're more rounded as opposed to a single curve

Thicker binding

Rubber inserts

Binding lathe pin marks

Incredible finishing

Handles sometimes flare out towards the top

Comments: I only recall the old school Salix bats not having the spine run down to the toe. I've found that the shaping of Salix bats tend to be very even throughout, and their profiles don't tend to vary massively. I think there are two different batmakers, sometimes the spine seems a bit more rounded, and some others have a sharper one. Also, the old chrome stickers are still some of my favourites. The Sabre bat is an example of their dropped shoulders.

Laver & Wood

Traits:

Square shoulders with a slight curve in towards the handle

Neoprene toe guard

Quite a distinctly rounded toe

Thin handles

Excellent balance

Thick vinyl scuff sheet

Tend not to be bowed

Comments: Generally have quite a clunky sound when striking the ball. I haven't used many bats which are as well balanced as what James makes, probably the biggest selling point (imo) of Lavers.

Newbery/Tim Keeley

Traits:

Curved shoulders, similar to Salix, but with slightly less gradient

Thicker binding

Handles tend to be on the thinner side

Rubber inserts

Comments: Not sure, have to double check this, but I think the binding tends to have a yellow tinge because they use animal glue. One of the most sought batmakers, and these performance of these bats explain why.

Hell 4 Leather

Traits:

Curved shoulders, with a slight rounding to them

Excellent shaping

Thicker binding

Comments: Well seems like most folk own one on this forum, but they are excellent bats.

Conclusion: I've wasted so much time on this cause I'm so sad... Will seem massively incomplete, but I just cba anymore, might expand on this a bit later. Hopefully interesting for some, and I'm bound to have missed out a lot haha.

Interesting posts. But some bats don't seem to follow the traits outlined, for example the Vapen looks more like the B3's in terms of binding and the Puma shoulders are completely different to the SS ones.

Did you know the makers before categorising? Or group them blindly on similarities?

Chad thanks for the pictures and write ups .Having been a GN bat buyer for years agree the modern ones apart from the Classic range don't ping as well as the ones i have that were tmade at Robertbridge.

Interesting posts. But some bats don't seem to follow the traits outlined, for example the Vapen looks more like the B3's in terms of binding and the Puma shoulders are completely different to the SS ones.

I personally thought Hammer sourced their bats from B3 after using L&W, obviously could be miles off the mark but that was my rough understanding...

Interesting posts. But some bats don't seem to follow the traits outlined, for example the Vapen looks more like the B3's in terms of binding and the Puma shoulders are completely different to the SS ones.

Did you know the makers before categorising? Or group them blindly on similarities?

I did mention that I was unsure of the Puma, that the shoulders were pretty different, binding and shape were similar though. Just happened to have it in the photo, so thought I'd talk about it. I'll double check the Hammer binding, but the shoulders didn't seem very B3 from memory, but I could be wrong about origins.

Interesting posts. But some bats don't seem to follow the traits outlined, for example the Vapen looks more like the B3's in terms of binding and the Puma shoulders are completely different to the SS ones.

Did you know the makers before categorising? Or group them blindly on similarities?

There you go, I don't know exactly if it is TK for the Hammer, but that one was assumed because the binding and shoulders seemed to match. So yes, in this case, grouped purely based on similarity and since they've used TK before!